FacebookTransition Age Program
For over 10 years, our Transition Age Program (TAP) has been providing intensive mental health services to adolescents and young adults, ages 14-21, focused on helping them develop their own independent living skills. TAP's goals are to help participants:
- Have a better understanding of their mental health issue
- Develop coping strategies to deal with their symptoms, stresses and conflicts
- Effectively manage their daily problems
- Realize their ability to deal with crisis in a healthy manner
- Improve their relationship with their family
- Have better relationships with their peers
- Function better in social situations
- Function better at school and/or work
TAP combines individual therapy with group workshops to accomplish these goals with each participant. Workshops are offered in a social setting, and work on developing skills like:
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TAP also offers psychiatric medication support and monitoring services, when medically warranted.
Individual & Family Therapy:
The Transition Age Program (TAP) offers specific strength based counseling options to help youth cope with mental health issues that are a result of years of abuse and neglect. This "Trauma Focused" therapy is designed to reduce the effects of the trauma on the client, and improve their ability to function.
- Family involvement during treatment is highly encouraged
- Each client receives an in-depth assessment of their strengths and needs
- Individual treatment goals are developed based on the client's assessment and their personal goals.
TAP staff work with each client to select an individual treatment plan that will help them reach their goals. Treatment plans can include
- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Therapeutic Interventions
Independent Living Skills:
Clients work with TAP staff to build their independent living skills, learn and incorporate positive coping techniques into their daily life, and increase their social skills. As much as possible, TAP staff work one-on-one with their clients in "real world" situations.
- TAP staff work through life style decisions with their clients
- Staff provide their clients with coaching and support for healthy problem solving
- "Hand-on" experience allows clients to practice new skills or
- Builds confidence and self-awareness
- Staff also helps each client make connections to resources in their community that can provide important support which will continue after their treatment in TAP.
Group Workshops:
The Transition Age Program (TAP) offers weekly group workshops where young people can find peer support and social interaction while working on a variety of issues and topics that relate to their ongoing treatment. Group workshops reinforce the independent living skills that are addressed during individual counseling, and include:
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Group workshops are a successful way for TAP clients to share in an accepting and creative environment, while giving them the opportunity to develop personal and social connections with peers. Most importantly, group workshops give TAP clients a sense of belonging.
Mark was a bright and outgoing teenager who excelled in his GATE classes in high school. Although Mark seemed to be thriving as a teenager, he was dealing with a serious anxiety disorder and was beginning to spiral out of control. At the time Mark entered TAP he had just dropped out of his senior year of high school and had no plans for graduation. He had a history of escalating problems with his teachers and peers, and was now having serious conflicts at home. Mark was extremely anxious about going out in the community and had no plans to work or continue with school. Mark was stuck. TAP staff immediately set him up with an individual therapy plan and he began working on independent living skills with staff, and in the group workshops. With support from his TAP team and his mother, Mark learned to face his fears, learned anger management skills, and began to reengage in the community. While participating in TAP, Mark discovered he had a passion for working on cars. By the time Mark graduated from TAP he was enrolled in community college, taking classes for auto mechanics, and was working in an auto parts store. Mark was working out conflicts with his mother, and had developed ways to cope with his anxiety.
97% of the youth that participate in the Transition Age Program show an improvement in their ability to function independently.
